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SACRAMENTO – Senator Mark Leno has introduced new legislation that reforms California’s drug sentencing laws for simple possession. SB 649 allows counties to significantly reduce incarceration costs by giving prosecutors the flexibility to charge low-level, non-violent drug offenses as misdemeanors instead of felonies. The bill also gives judges discretion to deem a non-violent drug possession offense to be either a misdemeanor or felony after consideration of the offense and the defendant’s record. SB 649, which does not apply to anyone involved in selling, manufacturing or possessing drugs for sale, will help alleviate overcrowding in county jails, ease pressure on California’s court system and result in millions of dollars in annual savings for local governments.

"China, particularly over maritime issues, continues to act in an assertive manner, including coercive attempts at changing the status quo, and is poised to fulfill its unilateral demands without compromise," said the report which was approved Tuesday by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Leadership crisis in Iglesia ni Cristo

By DANNY LLANTOFilAm Star-Manila

MANILA – One of the oldest and most influential religious groups in the Philippines, the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), showed cracks that could spell its possible disintegration after charges of corruption and abductions and a leadership crisis within the church surfaced on Thursday.